My Italian friend Alex recommended this book to me called "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". He said its a must read and the best travel and philosophy true story ever written. See our conversation about it below.

[10/9, 12:55 AM] Alex From Venice: have you read the book "Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance"?
[10/9, 12:57 AM] Alex From Venice: it's a story about a man, a teacher of English rhetoric, which travel the world trying to find the meaning of life, the ultimate purpose that make life worth to be lived
[10/9, 12:58 AM] Alex From Venice: then, one day he got the enlightenment and... went insane
[10/9, 12:59 AM] Alex From Venice: he had been confined in a psychiatric hospital where they tried to cure him by erasing his brain with electro shocks
[10/9, 1:00 AM] Alex From Venice: when he had been dismissed he wasn't himself but sort of another man with a shadow himself still alive
[10/9, 1:02 AM] Alex From Venice: he then start a coast to coast motorbike ride together with his son and another couple with their own motorbike
[10/9, 1:02 AM] Alex From Venice: and there the Zen philosophy makes a difference in everything
[10/9, 1:03 AM] Alex From Venice: even when it's about taking care of own motorbike
[10/9, 1:03 AM] Alex From Venice: it's a MUST READ
[10/9, 1:03 AM] Alex From Venice: and based on the true story of the author
[10/9, 1:04 AM] Winston: Its a book only? No movie? Someone should make it a movie.
[10/9, 1:04 AM] Alex From Venice: book only
[10/9, 1:04 AM] Alex From Venice: as far as I know
[10/9, 1:04 AM] Alex From Venice: I also loved the narration style
[10/9, 1:05 AM] Alex From Venice: very light and easy
[10/9, 1:06 AM] Alex From Venice: some novels aren't suitable to be converted in a two hours movie
[10/9, 1:09 AM] Winston: Electro shock was done long ago. When did that novel take place?
[10/9, 1:11 AM] Alex From Venice: maybe the seventies
[10/9, 1:42 AM] Winston: Why did he get mental illness after being enlightened?
[10/9, 1:42 AM] Winston: Did he only travel in the US?
[10/9, 1:44 AM] Alex From Venice: read the book
[10/9, 1:46 AM] Alex From Venice: don't worry, you won't find a single page written in heavy narration style like in the first chapter of "the Foucault's pendulum"
[10/9, 1:46 AM] Winston: But which countries does he go to?
[10/9, 1:46 AM] Alex From Venice: all over the world
[10/9, 1:47 AM] Alex From Venice: Asia too of course
[10/9, 1:47 AM] Winston: Is it a Christian story or Eastern spirituality one?
[10/9, 1:47 AM] Alex From Venice: but the story isn't about his travels
[10/9, 1:48 AM] Alex From Venice: it's a self discovery and a discovery of the Zen philosophy at same time
[10/9, 1:48 AM] Winston: I just bought the book on kindle.
[10/9, 1:48 AM] Alex From Venice: and it's a beautiful travel
[10/9, 1:49 AM] Alex From Venice: good choice
[10/9, 1:50 AM] Alex From Venice: I think it's one of the few books that once I start reading I was using all my free time just to keep reading it till its end
[10/9, 1:53 AM] Winston: It doesnt have too many useless details?
[10/9, 1:55 AM] Alex From Venice: no
[10/9, 1:55 AM] Alex From Venice: it's a very easy smooth reading

Heres the link to it on Amazon if you wanna get it. Its available in Kindle format too.

But i heard its easy to read and flows well for the average layman. However it has layers of truth in it so you will get different insights after multiple meanings. Do you mean its cryptic or is everything spelled out?

Winston wrote:But i heard its easy to read and flows well for the average layman. However it has layers of truth in it so you will get different insights after multiple meanings. Do you mean its cryptic or is everything spelled out?

This is right, it has multiple layers. So it still has value for those who can't understand the core point. Nothing is cryptic but the deeper layers require depth of thought that most people don't have.